With the price of a good saw at $300 pluss it would seem to me that precut bricks that you know are correct at $400 or even $500 would be well worth the cost. Especialy if you factor in the savings in time and mortar.

I had hoped to be building by now but lower-back issues have slowed things down.
WHEN I start to build I plan on incorporating Arch brick for my rings. Combinations of 9" Straights, #1 and #2 Arch brick are typically used for building arches - the brick are already tapered along one axis. I figure I would use a lot less mortar between rings and I would automatically get fairly uniform pitches, one ring to the next.
The one drawback is pricing for arch brick.
Perhaps if you could offer a choice of packages to users, a package of all straights, another with arch brick, to accomodate users. The advantage of using arch brick are not limited to simplifying the build - the brick being tapered would be "keyed" into place and not apt to slip over time...

I think the tapered bricks are very cool -- and if you can find them locally at a reasonable price, they look great; particularly in the oven opening and vent opening arches. Nice and tight -- it reminds me of the term "factory edge in."

Our bricks for the Pompeii Oven Kit are high quality, high density, mass produced affairs. Think big quantity producer that we are piggy-backing on. We won't be able to do tapers -- but I do think our floor tiles are really cool. Fewer joints!
James

The really nice thing about the Pompeii kit is that it gives the builder the flexibility to build "quick and easy" with minimal cutting OR custom cut the bricks (might require a few extra bricks from a local brickyard).

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WHEN I start to build I plan on incorporating Arch brick for my rings. Combinations of 9" Straights, #1 and #2 Arch brick are typically used for building arches - the brick are already tapered along one axis. I figure I would use a lot less mortar between rings

Taper bricks are silly expensive compared to the low duty fireplace quality firebricks in the US. I wouldn't recommend them unless you got some bargain.
Interestingly, we've heard that they are not much more expensive in countries like the UK, where plain firebricks are really expensive.

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Here is the brochure for the Pompeii Oven Kit. I've made one change -- we have decided to include enough FB Blanket for 3" of dome insulation, and eliminate the need for any vermiculite or extra blankets. I also estimated the counts for the Pompeii90, the 36" oven. The FB mortar comes in 55lb bags, so it's a little tricky guessing how much we should provide.

Take a look and let me know what you think. We will be publishing it shortly, along with the final pricing.

Just a suggestion, instead of saying "almost everything you need" you should say "all the specialist materials that are difficult to source locally". The builder will still have to buy a mound of slab, base, and enclosure materials at the local home center.

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Thanks guys. Nice idea Dmun -- I will work that in. We're getting close to having the materials, so I will be placing a link on the main Pompeii Oven page on FB.com and put the two kits in the FB Store. That way more people will see it -- including people who haven't built their oven yet! :-)
James

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